The present application relates to an incense tray having a blower for directing the incense smoke upwardly. The present application further relates to an incense tray having a plurality of incense holders arranged around the periphery of the tray.
A number of devices are described in the art for holding incense sticks that are burned to provide a pleasing aromatic fragrance. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,370 (Towle et al), issued Feb. 23, 1999, that involves a combination of an incense stick holder, extinguisher and ash tray that is also adapted to store additional incense sticks. A disadvantage of this prior incense device is that the smoke that is generated by the burning incense stick travels in a random fashion, i.e., the smoke cannot be directed as desired by the user. Also, this prior device allows only the use of one stick of incense at a time. Further, removal of the residual ash from trough 36 in the top of lid 32 of this prior device could be potentially difficult and messy because of how narrow it is.
Another incense device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,375 (Rogers), issued Apr. 15, 1980, that involves an exterior receptacle fitted with an ash collecting basket that supports a lighter for the incense, as well as an axially disposed spindle. This device also includes a disc that is supported by the spindle and has a plurality of circumferentially disposed holes that accept the incense sticks. A wire mesh cap is fitted over this disc so that it can be rotated to permit selective ignition of one or more of the incense sticks. A disadvantage of this prior device is that it is fairly elaborate and complicated. This could again make it difficult and messy to clean up the residual ash. Also, the smoke that is generated by the incense sticks would still travel in a random, undirected fashion.
Another incense device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,821 (Grooms), issued May 26, 1992, that involves an ashtray having one or more incense holders. Again, the smoke that is generated by the incense sticks in this prior device would still travel in a random, undirected fashion.
Another device for diffusing smoke from various burning materials, including incense, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,531 (Wisniewski), issued Aug. 26, 1980, and involves a housing having a receptacle for holding the burning material, a fan chamber within the housing into which the smoke can be drawn downwardly from the receptacle through an inlet passage and then forcibly expelled through a side outlet passage by a small battery powered fan located in the fan chamber. A disadvantage of this prior device is that it does not appear to be easily usable with sticks of incense. Also, in drawing smoke downwardly into the chamber and then outwardly through the side outlet passage, residual ash could also be drawn down into the fan chamber, thus making clean up of the device potentially difficult and messy.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an incense device that can be used to burn multiple sticks of incense at the same time, is relatively easy to clean up with regard to residual ash and provides the ability to direct the incense smoke in a specific manner as desired by the user.
The present invention relates to an incense tray for use with sticks of incense. This incense tray comprises:
(a) a base having an inner surface that is configured to be capable of receiving incense ashes;
(b) a housing associated with the base, the housing having a top portion provided with an air passageway that is capable of permitting the air to flow from the inside to the outside of the housing;
(c) a plurality of incense holders spaced around the periphery of the housing that are capable of receiving a stick of incense, each of the holders being inclined inwardly towards the center of the tray;
(d) a blower mounted within the housing that is oriented to direct the flow of air upwardly through the air passageway provided in the top portion of the housing; and
(e) optionally a receptacle mounted on the top portion of the housing that is capable of receiving a fragrant solid or fragrant oil.
The incense tray of the present invention provides a number of advantages over prior incense burning devices. First, this tray allows a plurality of incense sticks to be burned at the same time to provide whatever aroma impact is desired by the user. In addition, these incense holders are inclined inwardly towards the center of the tray so that the incense sticks received by these holders also incline inwardly towards the center of the tray. This, in conjunction with the blower that directs air upwardly through the air passageway in the top portion of the housing, causes the smoke generated by the burning incense sticks to be drawn inwardly and then directed upwardly, thus providing a pleasing aromatic effect. The optional but preferred receptacle for the fragrant solid or fragrant oil provides additional capability for improving and complementing the aromatic effect of the incense smoke.